CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION N. BRUCE HANNAY Transcript of an Interview Conducted by James J. Bohning in Baltimore, Maryland on 9 March 1995 (With Subsequent Corrections and Additions) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This oral history is one in a series initiated by the Chemical Heritage Foundation on behalf of the Society of Chemical Industry (American Section). The series documents the personal perspectives of Perkin and the Chemical Industry Award recipients and records the human dimensions of the growth of the chemical sciences and chemical process industries during the twentieth century. This project is made possible through the generosity of the Society of Chemical Industry member companies. Upon the death of N. Bruce Hannay’s widow, Joan A. Hannay, in 2004, this oral history was designated Free Access. One may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Please note: Users citing this interview for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) Oral History Program to notify CHF of publication and credit CHF using the format below: N. Bruce Hannay, interview by James J. Bohning at Baltimore, Maryland, 9 March 1995 (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # 0137). Chemical Heritage Foundation Oral History Program 315 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society. N. BRUCE HANNAY 1921 Born in Mt. Vernon, Washington, on 9 February 1996 Died in Bremerton, Washington, on 2 June Education 1942 B.A., chemistry, Swarthmore College 1943 M.A., physical chemistry, Princeton University 1944 Ph.D., physical chemistry, Princeton University Professional Experience Bell Telephone Laboratories 1942-1960 Research Chemist 1960-1967 Chemical Director 1967-1973 Executive Director, Research, Material Science and Engineering 1973-1982 Vice President, Research and Patents Honors 1976 Acheson Medal, The Electrochemical Society 1978 Honorary Ph.D., Tel Aviv University 1979 Honorary D.Sc., Swarthmore College 1981 Honorary D.Sc., Polytechnic Institute of New York 1983 Perkin Medal, Society of Chemical Industry ABSTRACT The interview begins with Dr. Hannay describing his family background and his early education in Washington state. Both his high school chemistry teacher and his older brother greatly influenced his decision to pursue chemistry and to attend Swarthmore College, where he received a B.A. in chemistry in 1942. With the advent of World War II, Hannay received a student deferment from the draft because his doctoral thesis at Princeton Universityinvolving the measurement of dipole momentsrelated to the synthetic rubber program. While still at Princeton, Hugh Taylor involved him in the Manhattan Project and after receiving his Ph.D. in 1944, Hannay took a job with Bell Laboratories, where he continued his work on the Manhattan Project. Once the war ended, Hannay began research on the mechanisms of thermionic emission from oxide cathodes. The invention of the transistor in 1947 led him to focus on silicon, which was deemed more useful in semiconductor research than single crystals of germanium. This work resulted in Hannay’s development of a mass spectrograph to analyze solids. Soon after, Bell Labs asked him to coordinate the silicon research. In 1954, Hannay became a research supervisor, and he discovered a preference for management. Following this inclination, he continued on at Bell Labs in various management capacities until his retirement in 1982. This interview concludes with Hannay's brief assessment of the chemical industry and its need for more research autonomy. INTERVIEWER James J. Bohning is Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at Wilkes University, where he was a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. He was chair of the American Chemical Society's Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986, received the Division's outstanding paper award in 1989, and presented more than twenty-five papers before the Division at national meetings of the Society. He has been on the advisory committee of the Society's National Historic Chemical Landmarks committee since its inception in 1992. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation beginning in 1985, and was the Foundation's Director of Oral History from 1990 to 1995. He currently writes for the American Chemical Society News Service. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Childhood and Early Education Family background. High school interest in chemistry. Influence of brother. 4 College Education Attendance at Swarthmore College. Laboratory experience. Outbreak of World War II. Graduate work at Princeton University with Charlie Smyth. Doctoral thesis on dipole moments. Teaching assistantship in physics. 17 Manhattan Project Involvement of Hugh Taylor. Transition to Bell Laboratories. Work on gaseous diffusion. Discussion of atomic bomb. 22 Career at Bell Labs Research freedom. Discussion of importance of silicon. Development of mass spectrograph to analyze solids. Evolution of solid state chemistry. Promotion through research management. Work with gallium arsenide. 47 Retirement Consulting at Rohm and Haas, Eastman Kodak, Atlantic Richfield. Foreign Secretary of National Academy of Engineering. 51 Views on Chemical Research and Development Importance of intellectual freedom in research. 54 Notes 56 Index INTERVIEWER: James J. Bohning INTERVIEWEE: N. Bruce Hannay LOCATION: Baltimore, Maryland DATE: 9 March 1995 BOHNING: Dr. Hannay, I know that you were born on February 9, 1921. Could you tell me something about your father and mother and your family background? HANNAY: I was born in a small town in the state of Washington. My father and his parents and his brothers and sisters had descended from a Scottish family who came to Nova Scotia. After a few years there, they said it wasn't any better than Scotland as far as the climate, so they started migrating west. [laughter] They spent a little time in Chicago, where my father was born. Then they lived in South Dakota for awhile. Finally they came to the state of Washington, where my father, leading the family, acquired a small town bank or one that was just starting. He was a banker by profession, and so were his father and his brothers. That was his business in this small town, in Mount Vernon, Washington. It was a successful bank and it's a rapidly growing region. I might comment that the thing that really gave that part of the country a big boost was the Alaska gold rush. People came out there and they poured through the state of Washington because that was the closest point to getting to Alaska to dig for gold. All the towns grew— Seattle grew, everything grew. My mother was the offspring of a family of pioneers who had come from southern Indiana. She was born in the state of Washington in 1887, before Washington was a state. I'll tell you, the first settlement in Seattle was, I think, begun in 1859—so she was a real pioneer. [laughter] BOHNING: I'll say. HANNAY: Her ancestors came from the Daniel Boone family in Kentucky, across the river from southern Indiana. 1 We lived there and it was pleasant, being born and spending my early years in a small town. But when the Depression came along, the bank's business was largely mortgages on farms that were owned by the Swedish farmers who had left Minnesota because they were too crowded there. They had all come out to Skagit County in the state of Washington, and they all had mortgages. [laughter] My father said, "There's no way we're going to foreclose any of these mortgages. These are honest people; they'll pay it back when they have the money." But he couldn't float it because of the money requirements, so he sold the bank. I might say his father was working in the bank, and his brothers were working in the bank, and his brother-in-law was working in the bank. He sold the bank to the National Bank of Commerce in Seattle, a large bank which had a much better capitalization. He became an officer of that bank and we moved to Seattle. That was fine, except that my father was killed in an accident soon after we got there. My mother had three sons of varying ages, from high school on down. I was the youngest. She was left with the job of bringing up three boys, and she did it. I lived in Seattle through my high school years. I was the youngest; I was the last to leave. Then I went east to college. The first time I ever crossed the Mississippi was going east to college, in the outskirts of Philadelphia. [laughter] BOHNING: You received your grade school education in Mount Vernon, then. HANNAY: Part of it, part of it. BOHNING: However, you received most of your education in Seattle. HANNAY: Yes. I got through the fourth grade, or something like that, in Mount Vernon. Then I went to Seattle and got the rest of the grammar school education and high school there. BOHNING: I notice that on this form, you've mentioned that during your high school career, both your second brother and your high school chemistry teacher had an influence on you (1). HANNAY: Yes. The teacher was very good. It was one of those public high schools, Garfield High School in Seattle.